The capacity improvements are definitely in the plan, and in some cases being studied, but as far as I know, neither the Charlotte yard, station, nor any capacity improvements between Greensboro and Raleigh are funded in the current STIP.
There are a few grade separations and curve realignments here and there on the corridor that are funded, but I think the big hope is that NC will get a chunk of the Biden administration’s $66 billion in passenger rail grants to boost our ambitions.
Announcements on these grants are expected basically any day, but we could be waiting a few weeks or months to hear the news. I think it’s pretty safe to assume that if NCDOT does get any of this money, at least some of it will probably go to the Piedmont corridor. The question is, how much. Are we talking:
- 8 figures (a token investment, a pretty big disappointment)
- 9 figures (a repeat of Obama’s stimulus which was great, but only accelerated incremental improvements)
- 10 figures (a big deal, potentially revolutionary)